Consistently fielding the biggest number of entrants, the crowning of the BMW ///M Performance Parts Race Series champion has become one of the most anticipated events on the South African motorsport calendar. Heading into this weekend’s (7-8 November) season finale at Zwartkops Raceway, Renier Smith appears to be in a solid position to become the first consecutive champion, or is it?
The Series has a set of rules regarding championship eligibility that receives a little bit more focus ahead of each year’s season finale. In short, not all of the 104 drivers who have competed in the previous seven rounds will be eligible for final scoring, and those who are will show scores different from what spectators might expect. So, let’s explain the changes that will come into effect.
The first significant change will see drivers who competed in fewer than three events being removed from the points table. These include drivers who made a once-off appearance, for instance, in the coastal round, or competitors who only participated in marque events. Being considered to have competed in an event is based on having started an official weekend session. Should the season finale be a competitor’s third event, he will be considered eligible to score points. This process also mitigates the impact of shotgun riders, a practice that has received significant attention in recent months. Should a driver make his first 2025 outing in the season finale, he will not be eligible to score points.
After the eligible driver list is determined, the season-to-date points are recalculated. Let’s take an example: a driver competed in only one round, winning both races. That round will then be rescored so only eligible drivers earn points for their positions, with the points for the win going to the second-placed driver, who is classified as eligible. The third-placed driver will then take the points for second, and so forth. The only points that are not transferred are the points recorded for the fastest laps. Should a non-eligible driver have recorded a fastest lap, those points will be removed from the equation along with him.
This practice does not change points payout values, though. As per the Series regulations, the full points value is only awarded in a class if there have been four or more competitors starting the race weekend in that class. While non-eligible drivers may not count toward the final scoring, they are still considered entrants.
The final factor that is taken into account is Drop Rounds. With eight championship rounds in 2025, each competitor will have their lowest-scoring round dropped from their points totals. However, while Drop Rounds have become a common practice in South African motorsport, the BMW ///M Performance Parts Race Series uses a slightly different model.
The first difference relates to which scores are dropped. While some series drop the lowest race scores from the points table, the BMW ///M Performance Parts Race Series clearly defines the lowest-scoring race weekend as the one dropped. The rules also state that zero-value rounds are eligible for dropped rounds, regardless of entry. Therefore, should a competitor have entered all rounds, the lowest-scoring round will be dropped. A competitor who entered seven of the eight rounds will automatically drop the non-entered round, while a competitor who entered between three and six rounds will not drop a round.
With all of these factors still in play until the final checkered flag of the season, the adjusted points tables are therefore not made available until after the season finale.
Something that can influence the points table right until the end are breakouts. The most recent examples of that were seen in 2022 and 2023. Should a driver break out in the season finale, he will only take 75% of his points tally into his new class. It is for this reason that the class titles cannot be announced before the end of the season, except for Class A, where Leon Loubser has already taken his third consecutive title, with all factors accounted for.
While rewarding championship continuity, these rules also ensure that the BMW ///M Performance Parts Race Series will go down to the wire every year.